


Fourth and One

by Gleennui



Category: Glee
Genre: 2008 California Proposition 8 | California Marriage Protection Act, Coming of Age, Fluff, Kind of sort of marriage proposal, M/M, Not Beta Read, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-15
Updated: 2014-11-15
Packaged: 2018-02-25 10:54:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2619176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gleennui/pseuds/Gleennui
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the annoying girl from Puck's temple hands him a pamphlet in the hallway at school, Puck almost throws it away. But reading it ends up being a lesson in politics, relationships, and the way he feels about his best friend. </p><p> </p><p>  <i>Set in the fall of 2008, as the election is quickly approaching.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Fourth and One

“But if you’ll just listen, I think you’ll realize that denying fundamental human rights is an issue we should _all_ be upset about! Principal Figgins, aren’t you going to even take a pamphlet?” 

Puck’s almost to the parking lot, where Carole said she’d meet him with pre-practice Atomic Dogs for him and Finn, when he almost crashes into someone stomping out of Figgins’s office. She doesn't apologize--just squeaks a ‘hmph’ at him--but Puck recognizes her as the short girl from temple who shushes him. 

“Oh!” Girl from Temple straightens out her skirt and looks up at Puck. “I have a tap recital this weekend, and you could have twisted my ankles!” Puck blinks at her, trying to figure out what that has to do with anything or why this is his fault, but she doesn’t look like she’s going to explain, so he turns to go. 

“Wait!” 

Puck can practically taste the chili that’s probably ice cold by now, but he stops and turns. Girl from Temple is holding out a pamphlet. She looks less pissed and more sad now, so Puck takes it from her, raising an eyebrow. 

“It’s really important. They’re trying to keep people from getting married. Just read it? Please?” 

She looks like she’s about to start crying, so Puck nods and stuffs the pamphlet in his jacket pocket, glancing at her over his shoulder as he walks away just in case she starts squeaking again or something, before sprinting to the parking lot for his cold Joey’s. 

 

Puck doesn’t think about the pamphlet for the rest of the week, until he throws on his jacket to take Olivia trick-or-treating. It’s not even dark yet, but if he can get her out before his mom comes home from work, Olivia will be able to stay out longer and won’t have to wear a coat over her princess costume. 

He almost throws the pamphlet in the trash, but tosses it on his bed instead. The way he figures, if Shushing Temple Girl was crying about it, that means she might come find him to ask if he read it, and he’d promised his Nana he’d stop lying so soon after Yom Kippur. 

Halloween with Olivia means Puck doesn’t get to Finn’s until later than he’d like, but there’s enough time for them to prank call everyone they know and still find Carole’s candy stash before Halloween IV comes on. 

The doctor’s just about to get his face blown up and Puck’s got two Fun Size Snickers in his mouth when he realizes Finn’s been staring at him. 

“Whaf?” Puck rubs the back of his hand sloppily over his mouth, in case he got caramel all over himself, but Finn looks away. “Dude,” Puck finally swallows, “Was it the peanut butter?” He checks his cheeks and even his neck, where he found nougat one Halloween. 

Finn shakes his head. “Did that short loud girl give you a pamphlet and yell at you this week?” 

“Oh yeah,” Puck unwraps a Kit-Kat and hands one half to Finn. “She was crying kind of so I better read it before school Monday.” 

“Yeah,” Finn bites his bar in half. “You didn’t read it yet?” 

“Nah,” Puck says, “Why? Is it bad? Is that why she was crying?” 

Finn frowns. “No. It was like...about marriage or something. Gay-people marriage.” 

“Huh?” As far as Puck can tell, Girl from Temple isn’t gay, or at least he doesn’t think she is. She’s kind of pretty, and she wears earrings, and she doesn’t have short hair like Carole’s friend from work. And even if she was gay, she’s Puck’s age, and he’s almost 100% positive getting married at 14 isn’t a Jewish thing. 

“In California. When everyone votes for president, they’re going to vote to decide if gay people can get married there. The pamphlet said to vote ‘no,’ which means gay people _can_ get married, which doesn’t make sense. But I don’t think our moms can vote for it anyway, because we’re not in California, so I don’t know why she’d cry about that," Finn explains.

“That’s weird.” Puck tips an entire box of Junior Mints in his mouth and grabs Finn’s pop to wash it down. “I think her dads are gay, though. I mean, I know they are, because she has two of them and they hold hands at temple.” Which is kind of weird and also kind of cool, Puck thinks, but he doesn’t say so. 

“Maybe they want to get California gay-married?” Finn offers, and grabs his pop back. “That’s kind of far away, though. Maybe they’ll just move there with the loud yelling girl.” 

Puck doesn’t think she’ll fit in very much in California, mostly because of the crying and yelling, but maybe her dads will. If there’s enough gay people to want to vote about gay people marriage, there’s got to be more gay people than in Lima, and Puck figures if he was gay, he’d probably want to be around a lot of gay people, too. 

He grins at Finn and steals the pop back. “Yeah, and then I can talk at temple. Gimme that Reese’s.” 

 

When Puck gets home, and after he sorts through Olivia’s candy to make sure no one put needles in anything, he kicks off his shoes and falls onto his bed, still mostly clothed. He’s been thinking about Girl from Temple’s dads and gay-people marriage since Finn brought it up, and he feels around his comforter in the half-dark, looking for the pamphlet. 

He finds it and gets up to turn on the light, but before he gets back in bed he locks the door, just in case his mom gets up with heartburn and sees his light on. The pamphlet looks a lot like the ones they got in eighth grade health class, except it’s all about how everyone should vote “no” on Prop 8 and all the reasons why the ban is a bad idea. It talks a little bit about gay-people marriage and why it’s good to let gay people get married, except it calls it “marriage equality,” which Puck thinks is kind of nice. It reminds him of Social Studies the year he and Finn learned about how women got the right to vote and Carole made them sashes and hats for their presentation. He still thinks he would made a much better Anthony Whatsername than Finn. 

On the back of the pamphlet is a story about two guys who want to get marriage equality. Their names are Chris and Joe. Puck’s surprised to find out they met in a sports bar and are only 27. There’s a picture with the story, and Puck thinks they look like they could be guys on the football team, only a little bit older. At the end of the story, Chris and Joe talk about why they want marriage equality:

_Everyone talks about how we should be able to get married so we can have the same benefits and protections as everyone else. And that’s true. But we also want to have society acknowledge that this love we have is real and valid and good. Just like everyone else’s._

Puck tucks the pamphlet under his mattress and rolls onto his back. He hadn’t really ever thought about getting married before. He’d sort of thought marriage was just something that happened to someone, like buying a house or having babies. The summer after sixth grade, he’d gone to his mom’s best friend’s wedding, but the only thing he really remembered was his mom wearing a purple dress and crying and that the waitress had snuck him a second glass of champagne. Marriage definitely didn’t seem like something people would make pamphlets to fight for, but maybe gay-people marriage was better or involved less crying. 

 

The next morning, Puck’s still thinking about marriage and frowning into his Count Chocula when his mom comes into the kitchen in her bathrobe and blinks at Puck before grabbing the coffee from the freezer. 

“Aren’t you working today?” Puck says into his bowl, and shovels a spoonful of cereal and chocolate milk into his mouth. 

“No,” his mom yawns, “and don’t slurp.” 

“So I can go to Finn’s? You’ll be here with Olivia?” Puck has no idea what Finn’s plans are, but he knows if he can get blanket permission, he’ll be able to leave as soon as Finn’s free. 

His mom sighs and turns toward Puck. “I suppose. I could always take her to the mall. She likes that Claire’s.” 

“Or the library, Ma, okay? She likes to ride the bus downtown and get the books about the girl detective with the memory. She knows what they’re called.” 

His mom doesn’t answer him--just sips her coffee--but after a few minutes of silence and Puck trying very hard not to slurp, he decides to see if he can figure out that pamphlet better. 

“Hey Ma?” Puck says, poking at the last marshmallow with his spoon, “why’d you decide you wanted to marry Pop?” 

Puck can feel his mother stiffen from across the kitchen, and he assumes she’ll just walk away without answering him, so he almost jumps in surprise when she starts talking. 

“I was lonely,” she begins, and Puck glances over to see her looking at him. Her eyes are shiny. “Your father made me feel like I might not have to worry about that anymore.” 

Puck nods. “Yeah. Thanks.” He puts his bowl and spoon in the sink, then leans down to kiss his mother on the forehead. 

“You’re okay, Ma.” Puck pushes the coffee maker back onto the counter a little more before heading to his room to get ready for Finn’s. 

 

As it turns out, Finn’s free all day, so Puck heads over as soon as he’s dressed and has hidden the pamphlet under his mattress. Finn’s up in his room when Puck gets there, so Puck takes a detour to the kitchen to make them sandwiches. 

“Not today, Noah,” Carole meets him at the pass-through and hands him bags of chips and a tray of sandwiches. Puck tilts his head to see they’re mostly bologna and mustard. “I’m baking all day today, so you and Finn are staying out.” She smiles and waves her hand toward the stairs, but gives Puck look of warning when he tries to step around her toward the fridge. 

“Finn has the pop. Go. And no sneaking cookies later.” 

Puck grins back. They’ll find a way to get cookies and whatever else Carole’s making, even if they have to do what they did last time. Finn didn’t really learn anything new about where babies come from, but it distracted Carole long enough for Puck to get cookies _and_ pour two glasses of milk. 

Puck’s on his way to Finn’s room when he remembers his conversation with his mom during breakfast. He still hasn’t really figured out why people would make pamphlets to get married, but maybe Carole will have an answer that doesn’t make anyone cry. 

He heads back to the kitchen and puts the tray carefully on the counter so only a couple of the sandwiches fall over. Carole has her back to him already, so Puck makes a lot of noise pulling a stool out until Carole turns around. 

“Oh, no, don’t tell me you decided to come help.” Carole waves her wooden spoon at him. “Because I let Finn rent that football game you like _and_ he got another guitar for Rock Hero this morning, so if you’re taking up a career as a pastry chef, you should tell Finn first, because I don’t want to be responsible for his reaction.” 

“Um, no, it’s--” Puck runs his hand over his 'hawk, “can I ask you a question about you and Finn’s dad?” 

Carole puts the spoon down, but she doesn’t look like she’s going to cry or anything, so Puck figures he doesn’t have to grab the sandwiches and run. “Well, of course, Noah. Did Finn say something?” 

“Nah. Nothing like that. There was just this...thing...I read.” Puck doesn’t want to tell her about the pamphlet, but he also doesn’t want Carole calling his mom and telling her he’s going to run off and get hitched. “How did you decide you wanted to marry Finn’s dad?”

“Oh!” Carole smiles, and she looks like she’s remembering something. “Well, we were so young, but I just kept thinking that he was the person I wanted around for all my memories. I don’t think I was too young to know that.” 

Puck doesn’t know any girls he wants around for even a couple of his memories, especially not Girl from Temple or the blonde Cheerio who keeps touching his biceps, but he doesn’t tell Carole that. In fact, he doesn’t tell Carole anything, and he must go on so long not telling her anything that she thinks something is wrong, because the next thing he knows, she’s bopping him on the head with her wooden spoon. 

“If you’re going to tell me you’re marrying one of those Cheerios…” 

Puck makes a face and backs away from where Carole’s still waving the spoon in his face. 

“No Cheerios. Promise. Just Rock Band. I’ll tell Finn no Cheerios, either,” Puck quickly adds when Carole doesn’t look convinced. “Would I lie to you?”  
He grabs the tray and chips again before Carole can answer and sprints up the stairs as fast he can. 

 

Finn’s already setting up his team by the time Puck kicks the door open, and he nods to the bed for Puck to put their food down. Puck laughs to himself because Finn’s making the same concentrating face he’s made since they were eight and tried to make a real life Pinewood Derby car with Finn’s Radio Flyer: tongue out and eyebrows scrunched together. Puck suddenly feels like he wants to go run around or something, so he grabs a controller and elbows Finn in the side. 

“C’mon, move your ass and finish your team. You take up too much room.” 

Finn sticks his tongue out even farther without taking his eyes off the screen. “‘s my XBox and my room. Besides, you were late.” 

“Yeah? So what? So you should’ve been done already.” Puck fidgets with his inactive controller. “You lose every time anyway.” 

This time, Finn stops and turns to him. When Puck looks back, he’s only half-surprised to see that Finn’s eyebrows are now scrunched because he looks confused and a little hurt. 

“Yeah, all right, only half the time,” Puck elbows Finn in the side again. “But if you don’t hurry up, I’m eating all the bologna.” 

 

They play Browns-Bengals, and Puck’s up by two scores at halftime. Their hands are covered in sour cream & onion dust and mustard and Finn lost a pop top halfway through the first quarter and it’s the best game Puck can remember. Finn kicks a touchback to start the second half, and as Puck’s setting up a Wildcat, he mentions that he finally read the entire pamphlet. 

“Yeah?” Finn sets up for an outside blitz. “It wasn’t weird or anything. I mean, did you think it was weird?” 

“No,” Puck shakes his head, even though Finn can’t see. “The guys on the back really seemed like they want it not to pass so they can gay-people marry each other, but other than that, they looked really normal.” 

“Yeah. I guess it’s pretty normal to want to get married. They just want to marry each other instead of girls. Or, women, probably. They looked older.” Finn takes a swig of his pop.

“I...kind of asked your mom,” Puck starts, hesitantly. “I mean, I asked my mom first but she cried so then I asked your mom.”  
Finn pauses the game and sets the bottle down. The plastic makes a “thwack” noise as it expands, and Puck jumps a little. 

“Asked my mom what?” Finn sounds like he might get mad based on what Puck’s answer is, but Puck’s not sure why. 

“About marriage.” Puck backs away a little. If Finn’s going to slug him, he wants to be able to have some leverage. “Why she decided to marry your dad.” 

Finn looks like he’s relaxing, so Puck continues, “I was trying to figure out why people would want to get married so bad they’d need to make pamphlets.”

Finn nods like he thinks that’s a good reason to ask his mom a personal question. 

“What did she say?” 

“She said she knew he was the person she wanted around for all her memories. And then she asked me if I was marrying a Cheerio.” 

Finn makes a grossed-out face. “Ew. Why would you do that? Why would she say that?” 

Puck shrugs. “I don’t know, but your mom bopped me on the head about it.” He runs his hand over his hair and flour flies out. “Then I took the sandwiches and ran.” 

Finn unpauses the game and destroys Puck’s Wildcat with his blitz. They play in silence for a couple minutes, trading downs and passing the chips back and forth. Then Finn has to punt on a failed quarterback sneak and fumbles on his next possession and Puck pauses the game again. 

“Uh, okay, this isn’t fun if you’re going to suck,” Puck says, but he kicks Finn’s foot so Finn won’t make the sad-scrunched face again. 

“Sorry.” Finn looks so genuinely sorry that Puck puts his controller down. “I got distracted.” 

Puck kicks Finn’s foot again and grins. “Was it my flour-hawk? Because if that’s all I’ve had to do all this time, I would’ve started sneaking bags over.” 

Finn doesn’t answer Puck at first, but he does look like he’s chewing the inside of his cheek. 

“I don’t know any girls I want around for my memories,” Finn says, finally, and Puck almost laughs out loud. 

“Dude, is that what’s making you sad? Because me either. Especially not that shushing girl with the pamphlet. I wanted to go have memories where she _wasn’t_.”  


“Yeah.” Finn unpauses the game again and sets up a nickel defense. “I like having you around for stuff, though. I don’t want to go have memories where you’re not.” 

Puck stuffs a giant handful of chips in his mouth and almost chokes on the giant gulp of pop he takes to wash them down. 

“Me either. I mean, me too. Both.” Puck’s QB pump-fakes and finds a slot receiver down the sideline. 

“Does that mean you and me should get married?” Puck was drinking again and _does_ choke this time, spitting orange all over the controller. 

“Do you--hold up,” Puck wheezes and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. When he finally looks over at Finn, eyes watering, Finn’s looking away. 

“Hey,” Puck nudges Finn with his shoulder. “I was gonna say, do you think you could put up with me? ‘Cause my dad sure got sick of my mom after Olivia was born.” 

Finn turns back, and Puck can see he’s bright red but grinning. 

“Yeah! It’s you and me! I’d never get sick of you. We do all the best stuff together.” 

“Yeah,” Puck grins back, “we do.” 

Puck has his wideout run a fade to the endzone, but misses him by a mile. It’s a field goal later that Puck realizes something. 

“Hey, does that mean we’d have to get gay-people married?”

Finn shrugs. “I guess we can go to California. Or else maybe we can make a pamphlet for Ohio.” 

“Maybe,” Puck tips a pass, maneuvering with his sticky controller. “But what about, you know…” 

“Huh?” Finn runs an end around and picks up a first down. “What about what?” 

“You know…” Puck tries to make hand motions, but just ends up gesturing vaguely with his controller, “married people stuff. Gay-people marriage is probably the same as regular marriage. They, you know…” 

“Ohhhh. OH!” Finn fiddles with his controller for a minute and looks down, and Puck can see him just blinking while his QB takes a delay of game penalty. 

“I don’t think it’d be so bad.” When Finn finally speaks, Puck can barely hear him, but he makes out enough. 

“Yeah,” Puck matches Finn’s tone. “Me either.” 

Puck’s still watching Finn blink when Finn turns toward him, so it almost catches him off-guard when Finn keeps turning and then leans. His mouth is a couple inches from Puck’s when he stops, and Puck can tell Finn’s breathing hard because his breath keeps hitting Puck on the mouth where Puck’s lips are still wet from his pop. Puck closes his eyes and meets Finn the rest of the way and then they’re kissing and it’s weird in a good way but mostly awesome. Finn feels like maybe he’s not sure at first but then he kisses Puck harder, and it’s even more awesome. Finn tastes like fruit punch pop, and when Puck opens his mouth a little to taste more, Finn slips the tip of his tongue in. 

Puck’s not sure how long they kiss, but he feels dizzy by the time Finn pulls away. Finn’s face is even redder now, but Puck’s not sure if that’s because he’s embarrassed or because it was a good kiss, because Puck’s face feels kind of hot, too. 

They never paused the game, so Finn has to punt right away, which gives Puck a second to wipe his palms off on his jeans and catch his breath. Finn’s whole side is pressed up against Puck’s now, and Puck can feel Finn almost vibrating and really really warm. 

The last quarter is sloppy and awful, because they keep laughing at nothing, but Puck doesn’t care. After he wins, Puck stretches his legs out and grabs for the chips before realizing the bag is empty and cracking up all over again. 

“Hey,” Finn copies Puck’s position. “I got a question for you.” 

“Hmm?” Puck feels almost like the time they got into the wine coolers at the party after they beat Central Catholic. He looks over at Finn, who looks like he’s trying not to smile. 

“Do I have to wait until we’re married to do that again?”


End file.
